Young and Sober

I would like to stay anonymous.

I am 21 years old and have been sober now for 463 days. I grew up in a small city where everyone knows everyone and no one has privacy. My father who struggled with addiction became a successful business owner in our small city. He raised me the best he could, but I am in control of my own choices. I started drinking at a young age, 12 years old. Asking my Dad for money for the movies, but then it went to a Micky. Eventually that Micky turned into a 26 oz and that 26 oz turned into a 40 oz. High School was a blur for the most part, my life was basketball and partying. Captain of the court, but off the court. The only captain was Captain Morgans spiced rum. I hid my drinking pretty well … Well I thought so anyways. Till drinking took over and I started to go school drunk, smelling like booze at practice, playing games hung over. Finally, one day I got called to the office and suspended for a week due to being intoxicated during class. I lost my spot as captain, I lost my spot on the team. I went from being on being admired for my skill, to being looked down on. Not only was my school disappointed, but worse, my Dad who has been sober since the day I was born…was extremely disappointed. After my suspension I stepped it up. Saved the booze for the weekends and got back on the team and my “c” back for captain.

I graduated in 2009, but I had no plans…

I got my own place that my dad paid the rent on. I worked but I needed most of my money for booze. I started getting in a routine. I would work from 11:30-2:30, then come home and drink till I passed out, then do it all over again. No goals, no motivation, no life. I had a bad relationship with my Mother, who is an alcoholic as well. She would verbally abuse me, and when she did, I would drink over it. If we got along, well we would drink together. Till we fought of course. Then I would drink about that. I was an alcoholic at the age of 18.

Never did I imagine, me an alcoholic at such a young age. My friends would always say like “your sure drinking lots” or “are you ever gonna slow down?”
I didn’t think I had a problem. I was graduated, just enjoying my young years … Right? Wrong. I was dating a guy who beat me every other day. I was working a crap part time job, I had no relationships with any of my family, I was driving a crap car. I had nothing. But this was my normal. Eventually I got out of that relationship, but I still drank. If something went well I would drink, if something went wrong I would drink. My life still revolved around drinking.

Something happened though, after a heavy binge, on Oct 19,2011. I woke up. At my grammas (where I was living at the time) and all I could remember was being at the bar 12 hrs ago. I didn’t remember how I got home, who I was with last, how much money I spent, what the last drink was… Not a thing. I was so scared of how badly I blacked out. I came to the realization that enough was enough. I checked myself into a detox centre with my families support. I knew walking into that building that I was making a choice that would change my life. Not for anyone but myself. Everything happened so fast. I got blood work done and the cause of my black out was due to being drugged, aka “roofed”. I had a high dose of oxy in my system and I knew that day I would never drink again.

Its January 25th 2013. I am still sober.

I’m 21 years old. Happy and healthy. I have a new life. My family is everything, my Dads my best friend, mine and my Mother’s relationship has improved so much. She has even been taking a lot better care of herself! I have other new friends, new job, new car. I love my life. Getting sober at this age it was so hard, I felt so alone at first. I felt like I was missing out on life. I was not going to the bars. I thought so many times “its the weekend, there’s nothing to do but go to the bars”. That’s such a lie. There is so much to do!! I’m so busy doing awesome stuff, I cant believe I found time to drink before!

For all the people out there my age, I just want you to know that your not a loser if you don’t drink. Trust me. You are NOT the only one out there. It’s okay to be young and have an addiction. I have so much more of my life to live because I’ve dealt with my addiction at such a young age. I have no regrets in my sober life and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Make the right choice, make the choice that will make YOU happy, because YOU are the most important person in your life.

The end !! Well that’s my story. All is true. From small town, Yorkton, Saskatchewan. (Canada) Now living in Regina, Saskatchewan. Working at a womens shelter, helping others.

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Comments

Thanks for putting your story out there and I’m glad you’re doing so well. It’s inspiring for me to continue on with my sobriety because I’m 23 and sometimes begin to think I’m too young to be in recovery. It really seems like everyone else drinks all the time but its probably in my head.
Good luck

Very inspiring story. Being fairly young myself (25) I can relate to everything you said. I’ve never felt so alone in my life but on the flip side never felt so free. Its only been 45 days for me. There is SO much to do on the weekend other than go to the bars. I always drove crappy cars and had crappy jobs until I quit drinking.. Now I have a new truck , happier with my job, better relationships with my friends, family, boss etc. I have gone to several AA meetings and enjoyed them somewhat but it seems I’m the youngest one by at least 20 or more years. I would be thoroughly interested If anyone knows of any “younger” crowd groups in saskatchewan as I’m live in a small town and am finding it hard to find sober people my age. I’m sure a city would be different as there is more chance @ finding people your own age just due to the number of people. Anyways, I thoroughly enjoyed your story! Stay strong! – small town sober